AFP Corrects Number of IDF Fatalities in Jenin

As reported on CAMERA’s Snapshots blog last month, Agence France Presse understated the number of Israeli soldiers killed in fighting in Jenin in April 2002 (“Israel minister wants probe of Arab filmmaker over Lebanon remarks”). The article had erred, stating that Israeli filmmaker Mohammed “Bakri enraged the Israeli establishment and Jewish public with his documentary ‘Jenin, Jenin’ about April 2002 clashes in which 52 Palestinians and 13 Israeli soldiers were killed.”

As AFP itself repeatedly reported at the time, 23 Israeli soldiers were killed during those battles. An April 24, 2002 article, for example, accurately reported (“Israeli president tells world to stop using ‘double standards'”): “Israel lost 23 soldiers in the nine-day battle which broke out on April 3 when the army invaded the camp in search of hardline militants and suicide bombers.”

In response to communication from CAMERA’s Israel office, on Oct. 5 AFP republished the article with the correct figure. The later article correctly refers to “April 2002 clashes in which 52 Palestinians and 23 Israeli soldiers were killed.”

As a result of the AFP correction, The Daily Mail also corrected the article, which it ran on its site.